News

News & Information

Insights and expertise regarding hiring military for employers and veteran career tips for job seekers

Hire Military Hero – Bob Nardelli, Father of the Modern JMO LDP

December 21st, 2015

The “hire military” narrative was an idea long before it was a business case. I am sure there are many unsung heroes, not to mention titans of U.S. industry such as Henry Ford (known for offering returning WWII veterans positions with top pay), but the executive most responsible for the JMO LDP (Junior Military Officer Leadership Development Program) we know today is Bob Nardelli.

Then CEO of General Electric Transportation, Nardelli was urged by one of his senior staffers to meet a young man who was “amazingly impressive for someone with so little business experience”. Nardelli shared the remembrance in his pre-Veterans Day post of 2014 “For Successful Leaders. Turn to our Stars in Stripes” . This is where it started.

General Electric CEO Jack Welch later implemented the JMO LDP company-wide, and Bradley-Morris, Inc. (BMI) was selected as one of the few choice firms to assist in putting the first official JMO LDP in motion. It sprang from Nardelli’s JMO development success with GE Transportation and Welch credits Nardelli in his New York Times best selling book “Jack: Straight from the Gut”. Bill Conaty, then Senior Vice President of Human Resources and co-author of “The Talent Masters: Why Smart Leaders Put People Before Numbers” outlines a performance culture defined by soft-skills. It’s a perfect template for a JMO to succeed in. This is the business case!

As CEO of Home Depot, Nardelli continued the focus on JMO LDPs and I recall a massive Home Depot hiring event with Bradley-Morris as one of my first experiences seeing a large scale JMO LDP in action. Nardelli’s time at Home Depot has received its critiques, but there is no doubt that hiring military was a big part of their business success under his watch. As President and CEO of Chrysler Corporation, Nardelli continued his “hire military” focus. He has long been considered a patriot in business circles.

Now Nardelli is the founder of XLR-8 LLC, an investment and advisory company. He is widely recognized as one of the best operating executives in the United States. But to me, Nardelli will always be first and foremost a “hire military hero”.